How Biographical is your Business?

I had a chance this weekend to visit the Assyrian exhibit at the Boston Museum of fine arts. The antiquities on display were from the British Museum and it was pretty fascinating to see how advanced these almost forgotten people were. They were really ahead of their time so to speak. They had proven themselves to be a formidable military power that was pretty much unstoppable - what happened?
Well , like Winston Churchill had said - "good history is biographical" and that was true with Assyria as well. As long as the King was strong the nation was strong. Sure, the empire could weather the occasional bad ruler but when there were a few in a row things fell apart - and the competing nations took note of the weakness. In other words a nation is merely a reflection of the Ruler.
What about the leadership during this time of economic strain? Are you able to keep your company ahead of the curve? are you able to maintain focus? Are you able to fight off the more aggressive competitors? Do your people trust you and look to you for the right guidance?
So often, like running an empire, Business is Biographical.

Winning Against the Odds

A.D 60 and the Romans had suffered several humiliating defeats at the hands of a woman. Boudicca was queen of the Icini and she was now pursuing the last remaining obstacle to her returning the rule of Brittania back to her people - Seutonius stood in her way with two legions, a little more than 10,000 men facing as many as 100,000 Icini warriors.
Seutonius was moving quickly because he was trying to find some ground to fight on that favored his army - and he did. When Boudicca and her army arrived they certainly could have moved on and fought somewhere else but by now they were so emotionally involved and in a frenzy that didn't happen. Needless to say and long story short the Romans won.
The question for business leaders is this - are your sales people fighting the competitive situations they face on their own ground? Or are they fighting on the prospects terms or even worse on the competitors turf? Are they disciplined and trained enough to stand their ground in the most trying of situations and come of victorious?
Good questions and you might want to start by rating your sales force -here

Breaking Down the Doors

Most business people would feel that people "breaking down the doors" in order to do business with you would be a good thing. Maybe that expression is not so popular after the events of this past weekend where two workers were killed by a charge of greedy consumers hoping to save $50 at their local Wal Mart - yes I called them greedy!
I personally hate Wal Mart - not because of the big corporate bully bad guy image it has acquired but if I am being totally honest everytime I have had the displeasure of entering one of their stores I simply hate being with the people - the people that work there and the people that shop there. I don't have the type of buy-cycle that forces me to shop at a place where price is everything and the others do - I am sort of a fish out of water the minute I walk in.
That is why I would never be among the throngs of Idiots that head out the day after Thanksgiving at 4:00am in order to secure a minor savings. I certainly would like to think that no decent sales person would be among that group either. Most rational people who understand their value and time would not wake up at an ungodly hour and spend extra time in a crowded store to save maybe $100 - it actually would amount to a net loss!
So now they are talking about law suits - who should be sued? Well obviously they are going to all proceed against Wal Mart. My alternative - collect the names of every person that was there that morning by looking at every transaction in the first 2 - 3 hours and prosecute them all! After all they were the greedy people responsible for this tragedy. It was their feet that trampled the workers.

The Best Manager I Ever Knew

Sometimes the people that are promoted to positions where managing a group is the focus are not always the right fit - especially a group of sales people.Notoriously the most difficult group, segment or department of any organization to manage. Dave Kurlan talks about the tendency to promote your best sales person to the position of management - what a disaster that can be! I have seen it time and time again , superstar sales people often end up being too spontaneous and reactionary - I once saw a female "superstar sales manager" start throwing items across the room at her sales reps in anger - needless to say she didn't last.
I conversely was not the greatest sales person - She consistently finished top 3 in the country and I was a top 25 finisher ( still out of 2000 sales people nationwide not bad) but in retrospect and being quite honest I am probably the best sales manager I have ever known.( not that there are not any better managers - I just haven't met one) I blew the doors off when it came to getting a team of 8 reps to perform at the top of their game and all of a sudden our place in the national standings reversed.
Why - the role of a manager has more in common with a Director of a Play or Performance than many might imagine - get the most out each person, help them to perform better and better, consistently acknowledge their greatness, keep them enthusiastic about being there and loving their job, keep the head in the show and treat them like a fellow "artist". Of course there is still an obligation on their part to know their lines, show up for the rehearsals and listen to your coaching. My counterpart modeled her management style after Joseph Stalin and people responded accordingly - no self respect, no pride, no confidence, no motivation and by the way no numbers, no new business and spending their valuable prospecting time looking for another position.
When William Shakespeare founded the Globe theater in London he knew the value of having the right performers on the stage to bring his characters to life. Often he would tirelessly search for the right tonality or physical build so that nothing hindered his performance. You hear things like that about Directors today - Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard - "they just brought the best out in me"

the Great Wide Open

There has been a lot of talk about FDR lately - mainly having to do with the great depression and the similarities with the current economic meltdown. But i want to talk about Teddy Roosevelt, lover of the outdoors, big sky country and founder of most of the National Parks we enjoy today.
Interestingly there was no mandate to create national parks. There was no EPA nor were there groups protesting for the preservation of the national natural treasures - he just did it and he did it because it was the right thing to do and at the time it might have seemed silly, rash or pie in the sky.
I guess the point is that sometimes what is truly brilliant at the time seems silly or foolish. But when you think about Yosemite, Yellowstone or Acadia - who would say Teddy made a bad choice. With global warming and so many other serious environmental issues facing us - in retrospect Teddy really did take us into the great wide open! Will you take your business into big sky country?

Give them Something to Believe In.

So it is the day after the election and pretty much everyone is happy that we are finally at the end - regardless of your political views everyone was just about over saturated with this race and the "closure" that the decision brings is somewhat of a relief.
I was listening to a report about the canvassing and tireless support that some of these advocates had given to their candidates - door to door work, holding signs, making calls, handing out information and pretty much selling their candidate. Interestingly many of these people were not sales people and I am sure they suffered from some of the hidden weaknesses we uncover in people and no doubt some of them suffer from these quite severely, and yet they were involved in sales activities, they sucked it up and overcame these fears. What a lesson for business leaders. Could you "Obama-Fy" your people by giving them something to believe, a big picture view of your company and a clear vision of the "how you help" factor.
Of course the best option is to have all the right people in the right seats, however it is also true that sometimes we don't and even the wrong people will serve your business better if you give them something to believe in.

When a Keynote hits the wrong note.

I attended the central Mass business expo this week and subjected to their keynote speaker. I use the word subjected because I am trying to be polite - boring in delivery and more noteworthy - boring in content. This was an opportunity to provide these business people with something helpful, timely and applicable - it was also supposed to be information that would help their business to do well in a rough economy and unfortunately, it accomplished none of these.
Here are some of the gems I did happen to glean from the presentation.

• turn down the heat and buy your people long sleeved sweatshirts to reduce costs through the winter.
• LOCK the supply cabinet.
• take a close look at your expenditures and go to your vendors and get them to lower your price.

So if you like those and think they would make a difference in your business surviving the recession then here are a few more you might benefit from.

• CLOSE your doors - save a bundle.
• QUIT - go work for someone else.
• MOVE - change your name and find a new identity, start over.
• Start collecting cans and bottles on the side of the road.
• Get rid of your car, walk to work.
• See if you can save money by "acquiring" your lunch in the dumpster behind McDonald's.

Sounds Ridiculous doesn't it? I thought it would.

Bigger = Slower?

So here I am watching Tom Peters speak to a group of business people that are attending his presentation because they all desire to see their business grow. One problem according to Tom - that may not be the right thing to focus on and often big companies often equate to bad companies.
Think about yourself - maybe you have put on a few pounds, maybe you are a "little" out of shape and surely as you have grown older you have discovered more aches and pains? Your bigger - so to speak, but you are hardly faster or more energetic. Same proves true in business - with growth often a business finds themselves losing some of their nimble moves and stamina, not to mention flexibility.
So the point would seem to be - focus on the right things, the fundamentals and not the flashy things. In history all empires seem to have grown to a point where they suddenly cannot get out of their own way, they experience a social and financial collapse and then they implode - sounds a little scary doesn't it?

Write it Down!

I was watching a show about Herodotus this weekend. Much of what we know about the ancient Greek world is seen through his lens. He was diligent about recording events and offering his interpretation of them - he wrote everything down. Not everything was spot on, not all of it was accurate, many criticized his viewpoint but still - he wrote it down.
Too often in business and especially sales there is not enough written down. Well of course there is no shortage of excel reports and forms but that is not really what I am talking about. If you are a CEO do you get sudden inspiration and ideas and then jot those down immediately, if you are a sales person do you document your success and your failures in a journal of some type.
When I think about putting all of your thoughts in writing I can't help but mention Rick Roberge. In his Blog he mentions everything that happens and willingly offers his perspective. I really enjoy watching events unfold through his lens and I know there are times when the mere process of documenting these situations helps him get his head around things.
The same is proven true for the belly to belly sales person as much as the high level CEO. Writing things down will help you get your head around things and provide a measurable way to improve your skills or your business!

Hey Diddle Diddle

So here we are - weeks since my last post and the news and outlook for this economy is worse than ever. More big banks have floundered and fell, AIG is in trouble for spending $500k on a trip to reward their sales people (who didn't sell by the way???), the Dow is below 9000 and the behemoth of GM is poised on the edge of bankruptcy.
Apparently all of these troubles were brewing under the surface for a long time and nobody saw this coming - imagine that! Could there be "huge problems" hidden beneath the surface in your organization? Wouldn't it be nice to expose them earlier, before they turn into a really big and unfixable mess.
I would imagine that if I could go back in time to speak to the CEO's of AIG, Bear Sterns, Wachovia or Lehman Brothers they would say "all set", "no problems", "I have a great team of people who know what they are doing" etc, etc. Of course they would have been wrong but therein lies the curiosity. All too often so called business leaders don't lead and have ulterior motives. Finding "problems" that need fixed will mean work and change for them - yuk!
It is rumored that emperor Nero started the great fire of Rome and played his lyre while it burned. Don't know if that is true but it would make sense knowing what we know about Nero. The fire made room for a new Palace and gave him an opportunity to frame the Christians for the disaster (and then persecute them) as well as ridding the city of slums and many of the poor.
In our modern situation I think we all know that the "fire" could parallel this economic melt down - I haven't worked out who Nero is yet, but I am sure he is out there somewhere playing a fiddle.

Always Inspect Growth

So it has been a rough week - economically speaking, for the U.S markets. Interesting that we saw the government respond with the bail out yet another company; AIG. I couldn't help thinking that although many customers of AIG are probably comforted by the bail out - would I want to do business or invest with a company that allowed itself to end up in this position? In fact would I want to do business with any of the companies that have required such massive help? What does their ending up there say about them?
A CEO that I know - when facing some financial hardships said, "we will just sell our way out of it" - what a concept, imagine if AIG, Bear Sterns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Lehman Brothers had that same philosophy, what would have been different?
Well first of all they would have been watching the sales numbers, the accuracy of forecast, inspecting what they expected and holding people accountable. If the numbers couldn't support the losses then they would have been driving, mentoring, motivating and coaching their people to counter act the problems - yes they would have "sold their way out of it".
Instead - we have what we saw this week. If in my years as a sales manager I had even for one month done as poorly as these CEO's did for months at a time I probably would have been asked to leave - or before that happened my own pride would have caused me to quit!

Wall Street Blues or Wall Street Bull?

The news yesterday included some troubling facts about the economy - 3 formidable "giants" had been bought out, bankrupted or made people aware of some major struggles they were facing. The Dow and the NASDAQ reflected this by having one of the worst days in decades. As I watch the news this morning - the world is following suite with awful trading and horrible numbers. Do you think we are in a down economy?
When you look at financial "crashes" in the past it becomes clear that they are usually a result of investors putting too much faith in one segment. That was true in the late 20's when people jumped off buildings, it was true when the Irish economy crashed and the potato famine followed and it was true when these companies decided to jump on the real estate band wagon.
Any Lessons? Well I am not an economist but one thing I notice is how - to quote Mike Douglas in the movie Wall Street - there is "no skin in the game". Right up to the final hour everyone still receives their fat salaries and the investors and even the public are left holding the bag. In my line of work if I know my numbers are not where I want them I work harder and if I don't hit them I make less - why should that be any different on Wall Street. I don't get it.

Experience - How Important?

There is so much talk about "experience" during these elections that I thought we should take a look back at the importance of experience. Abraham Lincoln was one of the most inexperienced Presidents that ever governed the United States - and he did so during one of the most tumultuous times in its history. Now, in retrospect, people think of him as one of the greatest leaders and his vision sits cast in stone at the Lincoln Memorial.
When the colonies were forming the United States King George and his cronies laughed about their ability to form and manage a country - why? No Experience in Governing. The constitution and Declaration of independence clearly reflect that "young and inexperienced spirit" in their language and tone. Experience is not listed as a qualification to be President.
So in light of the somewhat amateur political bent and history, why this obsession with experience. Because it makes people feel safe, comfortable and as though they know what to expect? All reasons that history has shown to be false to some degree.
The business world is no different - Executive Bios are full of "history" and "experience". When companies search for help they often limit themselves and tie their peoples hands by requiring "experience within our industry". This is especially critical when you look to hire sales people because often "sales ability" cannot be taught but the "industry lingo and processes" can be.
Instead of focusing on Experience- most companies would do well to look at Character, Natural Ability and Weaknesses as they make a hiring decision.
Experience is often a synonym for "baggage" and it comes at a heavy price financially. Imagine you are often paying more to get that - does that make you feel comfortable and safe?

Have Fun & Get it Done.

Jamaica - a tiny country that usually conjours up images of dreadlocks, reggae, rum and beaches but certainly not Olympic Champions. However for the past few days we have seen the Jamaican men and women pretty much dominate the 100 meters to the 400 meters. One of the things that you can't help noticing is how relaxed and how much fun this particular group of athletes are having - all the others seem very focused both before and during the race - maybe a little too focused?
I am definitely not an athlete myself so this is nothing more than my opinion, however the Jamaican team appear to have mastered the fine line between having fun and getting it done. The commentator last night was talking about Mr. Bolt - who just broke the world record by a substantial margin - as not having good form, making many mistakes on his take off and not staying 100% in the race right through the finish line, then he added - Imagine if he had.
Well maybe if he had focused on those things he would have been as worried about those things as his competitors were and maybe then he would not have won as easily or at all.
Sometimes sales people get so focused on technique, organization, what to say and presenting that they cannot simply relax and enjoy the conversations they are having with their prospects, they get a little too focused. The best sales people are able to relax and be themselves letting all of their training and natural ability come to the fore in the heat of competition. They simply have fun and get it done!

Going for Gold - Execution

Like so many others I have been up too late these days watching portions of the Olympics. There are of course certain events that are more interesting to me than others, but as a whole the entire competition is fascinating. There are a number of posts that will be coming out of these events so here is my first.

Last night was a night of contrasts - on one hand the US Swimmers totally dominated their events and were breaking new records in almost every contest. On the other hand, the US ladies Gymnastics team struggled with execution. It was pretty common to hear " they have done that hundreds of time in practice but...."

So I guess what is interesting is how the tension and stress of competition at this level can both bring out a surpassing of expectations and for lack of a better word - failure. History too is full of examples of those with grandiose plans and ideas that went nowhere or failed miserably when it came to execution - the Armada, the Titanic, the Hindenburg for example.

In the book "Execution" Larry Bossidy lists the question "can we execute this?" as a vital step for every strategic plan. Too often business leaders and sales people both fall victim to wishful thinking - I want this to work - nice but certainly not enough to capture the gold. When times get tough will your team get better under pressure or will they crack. Wouldn't it be nice to know the answer to that before you get to the Olympics?

Magna your Carta

I am always amazed when I speak with someone and they start to talk about what they are doing and how instead of the why they are doing it and is it working? My questions are usually intended to uncover the latter - and I am pretty direct - yet many of the executives or entrepeneurs I speak with try to skirt around those answers and prefer to discuss the details that they are most comfortable with. These are usually centered around numbers or activity descriptions and not around the real reasons that some of their problems exist.
When King John 1st found himself being forced into signing the Magna Carta the situation was similar. He had what he believed to be an understanding of the problem and a clear solution that was the exact opposite of the problem. How many times have you found out only after executing a strategy that it was the wrong strategy?
Look at it this way - when you shy away from tough penetrating questions that someone else is asking, how will you respond when you are asking them to yourself? Answer - the questions will not be as tough and your answers will not be as honest!

Picking up Steam

I really enjoyed hearing Scott Zimmerman speak earlier this week. He provided some really useful tips that involved getting an understanding of where our clients were coming from, how they processed information and made decisions that I know will be helpful to anyone, especially me, that attended.
All too often in sales and business in general we are trying to push things along and expecting the customer, the prospect and the market to respond as we would - in reality however not everyone is like us at all and this means that our pushing - regardless of how it manifests itself - will be like fingernails on a blackboard.
My friend Rick and I were discussing how we could both apply some of what Scott shared and there is no doubt that it will be difficult, but the idea of trying something new and watching it work or fail always excites the true entrepreneur.
when James Watts invented the steam engine it started with him making a cup of tea and watching the pressure exerted as the kettle boiled - a new way of doing things was born! If your business or sales needs some improvement - try changing something and start by looking at things differently to discover what to change. You never know how or what it will take to cause you to pick up steam.

A tale of Two Cities

As I was watching the news yesterday I noticed someone being interviewed and realized I knew the person. It was Michael Coughlin - now the town manager in a town called Westport here in Massachusetts. I knew Mike many years ago when he was the town manager in Southbridge - another town in Massachusetts.
Mike was being interviewed because once again his progressive policies and leadership are helping both the town of Westport as well the people living there. It seems as if everyone there appreciates his work and what he has done for the town over the years.
When Mike was in Southbridge things were far different - he had created some huge changes and the town was looking better than ever, he had cleaned things up and the town was moving in the right direction. For myself he was a breath of fresh air and I even found myself thinking that this might be a town I could live in - but that didn't last. All the other town selectmen were determined to get Mike out - he was making too much (not true) he was turning the town into Wellesley (not possible) and he was not the right man for the job (not from the evidence) But they squawked and complained and grumbled and fought and bellyached until Mike had finally had enough and moved on to a town where his talents would be appreciated - and they were!
Pericles tried to bring change to Athens thousands of years ago and faced similar challenges. Although the Athenians realized the changes were for the better they resisted. Human nature I guess. In their case Pericles was successful and ushered in the golden age of Athens - not so for Southbridge.
I drove through Southbridge the other day (and I visit a lot of towns in the state) what a mess. The town just looks dirty and old, depressed and gloomy - hopeless. All the decent people I know have been trying to move away. I cant blame them. All of the "cool" and "trendy" places that were opening when Mike was there have closed and been replaced by more of the same. The schools are rated very low, the taxes are very high, the roads are bad etc etc. I feel bad that the leadership and people of Southbridge couldn't handle the change and were so jealous and resistant to it. I hope they feel some responsibility for the sorry state of things now but my guess is when they read this they will say "not true" or "things aren't bad" or "he doesn't know what he is talking about" -My response is this - but they are, your right things are probably worse than this and I most certainly do!

Make your own Map.

I was speaking with a business owner last week and like many these days he was discouraged by the state of the economy. In the course of conversation he made a statement that baffled me " I just think gas prices need to come down so that my business can take off again" - Gas Prices? Now I admit that some business people have been harder hit by the increase in fuel than others but be assured that this gentleman's company is not in that category. Even if it were in that category the great business leader, rather than blame some intangible, finds a way to work around or even turns that into an advantage if possible.
When a President or CEO, Business Owner or Entrepreneur directs his company based on an idea that is not accurate, just a false premise or figment of his imagination where will he end up. If the road map is wrong how can anyone follow it successfully?
In the heydays of Exploration when the "new world" had been discovered - there were hundreds of maps floating around based quite often purely on someone else's imagination. Many explorers went off in search of these fictional locations, countries and riches only to perish. Others realized that they couldn't be trusted and decided to make their own maps that they could trust and felt safer relying on their instincts than on some unverifiable map. Francis Drake circled the globe successfully using this principle. Often as a business leader you are better off making your own map and relying on your instincts as well!

Eurika, I've found it.

That is what Archimedes shouted upon discovering a new and exiting way to move water from one place to another. He had worked on this problem for some time and yet nothing had come together for him - then out of the blue, inspiration appeared.
There are some great modern examples of people that were inspired - Steve Jobs come to mind. He had an idea and then built a company around the idea and hired his people based on whether or not they accepted and adopted that idea as their own - that creates vision and ownership and not coincidentally one of the best managed, fasting growing, most profitable and innovative companies in the world not just the States.
But Inspiration is not the same as a thought - Vision is not the same as a plan. Unfortunately many business people, executives and entrepreneurs spend much of their time in the world of thought and planning rather than Inspiration and Vision. What is the difference?
Well Archimedes and Steve Jobs had a concept that was in their head, they walked around with it, slept with it, ate with it and talked it over with themselves. Eventually it clicked. From this point on is where most business people can take over - facilitating the concept. But, if there is no concept or clear vision your company will always be part of the pack and never really differentiated from the competition. Worse is the fact that if you are not creating the vision then who is ? Probably a competitor.

A Good Time to Expand the Empire

Last night I attended another EO event where this time a panel of experts tried to help these entrepreneur's re-evaluate the best ways to handle this economy. It was a very interesting Q&A session and some of the experts did a stellar job at pointing these business people in the right direction.
Questions kept getting brought up regarding the "cutting of costs" - something I hear quite often and probably since it resonated I decided to ask a question of the experts - "is it better to cut costs or to grow revenues since they can accomplish the same thing, shouldn't entrepreneurs spend at least as much time thinking about ways to grow their business as they do thinking about ways to shave a few dollars off by cutting expenditures?"
as I expected the panel agreed with the question and proceeded to point out the benefits of growth over stagnation. Now is the time to attack the competition, improve your services, refine your vision, assess your people. re-negotiate leases, even borrow money and take advantage of the economic climate - its a great time to be in business.
The Roman Emperor Trajan is known in history as the man that expanded the Roman empire to become the biggest it had been at a time when others might have - and did decide to sit back and leave things as they were - why. Because even 2000 years ago expansion of an empire resulted in revenue increases that allowed him to resolve the same issues that would have caused others to not expand.
So what is your plan? Good business sense always includes a plan for growth that is not dependent on anything else that is happening in the economy - you are either growing or shrinking your respective portion of the pie regardless of how big the pie is.

A Mothers Love

With so much going on right now - politically, Celtics Winning their first championship in years, gas prices and so much more this post might seem strange. The older my blog gets the greater the amount of feedback, the more feedback I receive the more I realize the diversity of my audience. The interesting thing about this "blog world" is that not everyone leaves comments so you are not always sure whether or not anyone is getting and liking message. That never really bothered me because for me this is simply an exercise that keeps my ear to the ground and makes sure I am not losing touch with the real world.
One person who always provides feedback and help on and off line is Rick. Perhaps you have noticed Ricks comments from time to time or you have probably read his blog upon occasion. He is usually right on the money. The great thing about Rick is not only his willingness to help, share and mentor but his openness - you can push back, disagree and say no and he is OK with that. Most of you - if you don't know him - might thing he is pushy or aggressive or hardheaded all topics he has discussed himself in his blog - but he is not.
Interestingly Rick told me today that his mother enjoys reading my blog and I am flattered - I guess that is where he gets it from and that alone answers many questions - my own mother doesn't even read this blog!

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Well my last post certainly created a little "buzz" to say the least. I believe that is a good thing and definitely part of what blogging is all about - creating thought. I heard back from the Owner of the restaurant and he apologized for how he handled things and admitted that he was uncomfortable with people soliciting him and therefore feels compelled to save his clients. Of course I accepted his apology and let him know that he should try and simply embrace those elements of being in business that make him uncomfortable - accept the good, the bad and the ugly.
The minute you hang up a shingle so to speak you open yourself up to the good - money, independence and a certain amount of pride. You also yourself up to the bad - pressure, responsibility and long hours. And the ugly - collections, vendors, expenses, customers and solicitation. All three are part of the package.
There are numerous examples in history of people who tried to accept the good but avoid the bad and ugly of their respective tasks. Kings who wanted power but accepted no responsibility for their peoples needs and generals that wanted the praise for victory but failed to accept the blame for a defeat. Sir Douglas Haig comes to mind for his failure to accept responsibility during the infamous battle of the Somme during world war 1.
It is not just business owners either - I was speaking with a sales person the other day who informed me that he was on the Mass "do not call" list. WHAT! I would never be on that list I told him because you reap what you sow. If you are going call on people and business owners how can you in good conscience forbid others from calling you - I don' get that type of thinking.

Everyone can Drink from the Water Fountain!

So I was approached in a parking lot of all places by a young lady selling make up - door to door & business to business. I was impressed - so impressed that I knew I was going to buy whatever she had even if it was junk - based on principle. As a fellow sales professional I appreciate how much gumption and strength it takes to do that and I respect the small percentage of people that can.
While she was in the middle of selling to me however one of the local business owners from "M____ Restaraunt" in Wayland decided to approach her and give her a piece of advice and his mind at the same time. So this business person started to let her know she was not welcome and that the landlord had a no soliciting policy for the property and that she needed to leave right now!
Mmmmmm? On one hand I respect her and on the opposite end of things this gentleman from M____ Restaruant is irritated by her and decides it is so important that it is worth rudely interrupting her and me to vent - what is the difference.
People like this drive me crazy and I have Blogged about them before. Clearly the "no solicitation" policy he spoke of is discriminatory - after all he solicits for his business on the property, his customers come and go, his prospects come and go, he asks qualifying questions of them both, he has a huge sign. he takes orders and delivers all on a piece of property where according to him there is "no soliciting". I have eaten here numerous times (the Irish Eggs Benedict are great) and this place is thriving and I am sure they do very well financially - so why the attitude, I didn't need to be saved.
So here are some rules that might clear things up.
If products are sold, if services are rendered, if others can come and go freely like the UPS man, the Fed Ex man, your customers and your prospects and you say that only sales people are banished that in my opinion is Discriminatory and a violation of their civil rights!
In this country years ago people would put up signs of their own for a different reason - infamously the "colored" sign over one water fountain and the "whites" over another. These signs did not reflect the dream of the founding fathers and neither were they logical or fair. Just because there was a sign didn't make it the law either - they were a disgusting representation of all that was wrong. So before you hang up that disgusting sign of your own that insulates you from reality and tries to make business a one way street I suggest that while you are at it - hang up a sign banning Negros, Colored, Hispanics and Gays - I mean if you are going to discriminate then go all the way!

Fun Fun Fun!

Last night I attended an event at my daughters middle school. The seventh grade had taken a their annual trip to Cape Cod. They spent three days studying the environment, erosion, history and marine biology - oh and they had a blast doing it.
It was amazing to me how much data these kids had uncovered and collected in just three days. Reading over their individual reports it was amazing how astute some of their observations were and I wondered if and how long those lessons would have taken in the classroom.
I then made a connection between learning and the fun these kids had - In sales it is also important to make this difficult job fun!
Too many business leaders fail to do this and as a result their sales people are not motivated to go above and beyond. Their people are often spending 50% of their time looking for job where like these kids they can accomplish the objectives and still have fun doing so. Training also needs to be fun if the lessons are going to have any affect.
A Roman General by the name of Titus had this down about 2000 years ago. He would offer incentives of R&R when he needed to build a fence or a ditch and make this miserable task a contest - oh and his productivity increased at the same time!
Don't be scared to include fun in your business, your personal learning program or even your activity levels - then even digging a ditch so to speak can become blast.

Infusion Confusion

I was speaking with someone this week regarding the latest attempts to "infuse" a "sales culture" into their company - an interesting concept. However as they started to explain their methodology of doing this I noticed two very strong obstacles and I now believe it will never happen. Obstacle one is that the leadership of this organization are accountants and financial people - not salespeople. Therefore they believe - like all bean counters - that the secret to sales success lies in an excel spreadsheet ( their way of solving any issue involves excel ) that monitors the number of calls, contacts and ratios. The second obstacle is this - the people that are actually doing the work are not sales people either - so they struggle with call reluctance, need for approval, emotional involvement and many more weaknesses that sabotage their own success.
I struggle with understanding why an organization of this size would not just accept that this is an area where they could use help - I have someone else do my taxes, my hair, my teeth, fix my car etc....and I don't see it as a personal attack - some people are just better at some things than others.
Looking at history for an answer - the best Generals were always soldiers, men who understood what was involved in fighting, men who didn't second guess their troops, men who didn't believe that the secret to good fighting was in knowing military terminology or polishing some brass bauble. Conversely the worst generals were "theorists" or "part timers" or "bean counters" that had no real transferable skills or knowledge and they couldn't inspire or motivate their men.
During the civil war the forces of the confederacy were plagued by the meddling of Jefferson Davis - not a soldier. Had he been put on a battlefield he probably would have cried or ran away. So although I certainly hope things work out for a non sales leader trying to infuse a sales culture into a non sales minded work force I am 100% confident that they will not!

Business Karma

So I finally heard back from a VP that had been ignoring my calls for a few weeks. He let me know that they had went in another direction that was a "quick fix" for now - he realized that it didn't solve the underlying problems inherent with his sales group. It came down to "price" he said, after all the non solution compared to my solution (his words) was half the price! When did you make the decision? - about 3 weeks ago - and only now was he letting me know!!!
So I asked him if he was listening to himself and if he understood the implications of what he was saying?
Then I summed it up for him this way - If your sales people suffer from price shoppers and people selecting product over solution and if your people are frustrated by prospects ignoring their calls and they find out that they have lost weeks or months after that decision has been made then you deserve it and it is a result of a negative corporate buy cycle that your organization is teaching them - not formally but by its actions!
Karma or you reap what you sow - is as true in business as it is in life. Throughout history some have thought they could remain exempt from the repercussions of their actions but Newtons law of an equal and opposite reaction proved their hopes false. The French Aristocracy of the 18th century - Louis and Marie Antoinette - laughed at the poverty and plight of their own people in a heartless way and sure enough they were treated in like fashion when the revolution turned the tables on them very quickly.
To misquote John Lennon - business karma's gonna get you!

Are you ready for the Playoffs

I wanted to comment on an event I attended today - 500 or so business professionals were gathered and had an opportunity to hear Rich Gotham speak. Sometimes the timing is perfect at these events and since the Boston Celtics are in the playoffs and Rich is the President of that organization everything he said seemed to be even more pertinent.
Obviously Rich is not out on the floor playing with the team - but it was interesting to hear how the internal organization had to be aligned to win; before the players could even begin to string together a season like this one!
Let me share some of the main points that Rich shared and that I thought helpful to any business.
1.In the playoffs everyone brings their game and winning is tougher - in a recession every business is fighting harder for every piece of business and yes winning is tougher!
2.Turn traditional thinking on its head - Rich accomplished this by changing sponsors, redesigning the way tickets could be purchased and bringing the business in before they were winning - if your traditional business or customer is not meeting your targets are you looking for new?
3.Know your market - The Celtics do extensive research to understand what their customers want and who their customers are - this should be an obvious application.

During the civil war Jeb Stuart utilized all of these techniques when his cavalry unit started to operate differently than traditional cavalry. They became the eyes and ears of General Lee and often were instrumental in helping the confederacy "compete".

So Tuesday Night is Game One for the Celtics next challenge. As you get comfortable and sit back in front of the TV tonight it's OK to be impressed with Garnet and Pierce but don't forget that every winning team and every winning player has some type of support system that makes that possible. Don't just focus on your "players" and don't just focus on the "organization". You have to focus on both to have a winning season!

Go Find Your Aristotle

Yesterday I had a chance to meet Ken Blanchard and to hear him speak to a group of Boston Entrepreneurs. There was obviously a lot of great information and I took some notes knowing that something he said would end up here.
Ken is a very "grandfatherly" figure - 68 years old, successful business owner, successful family man, accomplished author of many books to cite just a few of the things he has done that almost anyone would be proud of; in spite of this near the end of his discourse he said something that surprised me! He spoke about his mentor - someone he talks with every week and has done for years to keep him focused. Someone that he feels is not emotionally involved in the issues he faces and can help him keep a clear head. Wow! He then mentioned that studies show that all successful business people are "open to mentor ship"- what an interesting concept, are you open to mentor ship? Are you successful? Could you be more successful?
Historically speaking I had to agree with Ken. Many of the greatest leaders in history were open to mentor ship - conversely some of the worst leaders were not.
Aristotle served as a mentor to Alexander the Great - certainly that should provide evidence of the truth of Kens' statement. Alexander was young but was able to make mature decisions. So if you have a young business who do you rely on as a mentor? How do you find an appropriate mentor? Go find your Aristotle!

Benefacto Nominus Idiocritus

I had a chance to fill in this morning at a so called "leads group" and it started me thinking about Julius Caesar. Why you might ask?
Well I have often wrote about the differences between true leaders and the rest. Julius was a leader - and like all leaders he not only tolerated change neither did he enjoy change but rather he initiated and caused change. The Roman Empire was strong, it had been the same size for a while, who needs to expand? Why put forth the effort? Because Julius was not content with maintaining something good; he wanted to expand and grow into something great!
So at this leads group there were about 80 business owners who exchanged "leads" and "referrals" at the end of their meeting - I counted about 20! Now excuse me in advance for going on a rant, but 80 business people work for a week and can only collectively come up with 20 referrals - asinine! Then they ask about business generated from the group on an annual basis and I ask the fellow next to me how much business he has received from the group - $7500.00 is the answer . How much Profit? $1500.00 is the answer. Minus the dues and membership fees leaves about $800.00!
So let me get this right - 2 hours a week x 52 weeks is about 104 hours or two average work weeks devoted to this group to make how much? $400.00 per week!!!! Wouldn't your time be more productive somewhere else and isn't your time worth more than that? Bottom line is that these folks would be better off looking to their Church, their Gyms or some Volunteer work as a source of "leads" than to spend it here. I was advised to not mention the group specifically so I am going to follow that advice - but here are a couple of alternative names I came up with for this group and maybe you can work it out:
1. Better Not Invest
2. Below Normal Intelligence
3. Block New Ideas
4. Boring Never Inspires
5. Ban Nothing Idiotic
6. Believe in Nominal Income
7. Be No Innovator
8. Barrage of Nutty Individuals
9. Brag but No Invoice
10. Benefits Never Improve

Just don't sit there - invent something!

I had an opportunity to speak with someone about their business today and I was amazed that this CEO was not able to answer a few basic questions about their business objectives. Last week I met with an entrepreneur that I helped by just asking a few simple questions....why then, to whom, how, what if and so on.
It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention and if that is true then apparently having a clear understanding of where and why your business even exists is not always a necessity. Really all business plans are like inventions - a premise followed by a theory and then a prototype followed by etc, etc. Then they either work or fail! How does a business begin or continue without answers to simple questions.
Inventors are not always right - look at Edison, so many mistakes along the way. But Inventors are curious and they are always asking themselves Why???? If your business is failing do you know why? If it is thriving do you know why? If you don't know what it is doing do you know why? If you don't care about any of this- do you know why?

Untitled Tribute.

On my way into work this morning I heard the news that Dith Pran had died from pancreatic cancer yesterday. And although I know this makes his life part of very recent or modern history I decided that I had to blog in some fashion about his remarkable story.
I remember hearing about the mass graves, the extermination camps, the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot and the killing fields as a kid and being shocked that things like this could go on for so long - but they did. Dith Pran helped many foreign journalists escape and then endured years of torture and starvation. Everyone thought he was dead but somehow he escaped and was able to inform the world of the many horrors that were going on in his native Cambodia. Rather than try and apply some lesson I would simply encourage you to google "dith pran" and after reading some details of his trials look at any obstacle you or your business might face and make a comparison!

Learn from these Steppes

A few weeks ago a friend of mine and fellow blogger commented on the "benefits of a recession". http://www.salesdevelopmentspecialists.com/ .This week I came across a similar lesson as I heard and author discussing his latest book on the Mongols and their notorious leader - Ghengis Khan.
Interestingly there was a "recession" then too - years of drought had resulted in poor crops and the Steppes were no longer providing adequate supplies for these nomads and their livestock. Ghengis Khan was able to capitalize this concern amongst the people and accomplish a number of things.
First, he united all of these tribes into one force under him. Then, he mobilized this force and they left the steppes in search of greener pastures. Finally, he realized that his "new direction" would upset some and therefore he prepared a significant part of this group to become one of the strongest armies that civilization has ever seen. Out of difficult times - came strength and innovation.
As a leader in business perhaps you are concerned about the possible effects of a recession. My advice - follow the same steps as Mr. Khan. 1. Unite the thinking of your organization and sales force to not only survive but to succeed. 2. Move your business if necessary to "greener pastures" - new markets, unexplored applications and better ways of selling. 3. Expect resistance as you move into your "new" competitions back yard - make sure your sales force is ready and prepared to spearhead this work.
You may not be planning on conquering the world - but you should be planning. Many think they are planning by cutting costs, letting people go and eliminating some projects that they think they can put off. This would be like Ghengis Khan staying on the steppes and trying to survive by rationing supplies and changing their diet - yeh they might have survived but everyone from that point on would have said - Ghengis Who?

Happy Columbus Day!

last night I had an opportunity to hear Cameron Herold (www.backpocketcoo.com) speak to a group of business people -owners, entrepreneurs and presidents and it was excellent! The focus of what he shared came down to the importance of vision, culture & people, communication and environment. Everything he covered and every point he made was spot on - I loved it!
What was interesting to me, sitting at my table, being somewhat familiar with the group was what I could sense all around me - resistance so thick you could cut it with a knife. Here was an expert offering advice to entrepreneurs who supposedly wanted to grow their business and they resisted - why?
Most of the time people have a tendency to listen and apply what they want to hear and agree with - "give less vacation to your people, don't worry about the company image and what the environment in your office is, yell at your help if you feel like it, don't wind down and relax on Friday afternoon, stay aloof from your employees...." would I assume have encountered far less resistance.
Leaders that have a clear or not so clear vision for their business are more likely to succeed than those who don't - bottom line! After Christopher Columbus had been laughed out of every court in Europe it was finally a fellow visionary, Queen Isabella that helped him get there.Interestingly his vision was off because he did not as we know find India but America. Point being that he executed a vision and got results. Having a vision for 3 years out was an excellent suggestion. Don't worry about the "How will I get there?". Perhaps you will get laughed at - so what! Who knows maybe you will end up somewhere other than you expected, like America.

Practice makes pathetic

I had a chance to hear Pat Sullivan, CEO of Sovereign Bank New England speak last week regarding the state of the Economy. The most interesting portion to me pertained to the results of a survey of over 7000 business customers. They were asked to prioritize the most important concerns to their business - ONE. 60+% growing my business TWO. 20+% retaining and finding the right people THREE. 10+% making sure my people are adequately trained to compete.
That said I couldn't help wondering - do most of these business owners and leaders spend 60% of their time and revenue on point one or do their concerns not match their reality?
During the Civil war General McLellan drilled his troops relentlessly, practicing formations, marches and maneuvers. He was inspired by watching thousands of troops marching to and fro at his command - no doubt a beautiful sight! One problem,most of the battles that these men would fight were not going to be on an open and level field. Most of the time the General would have to give orders without knowing where his men were, hidden by trees and smoke. All of that practice only instilled frustration where these best of plans were foiled.
As a business leader think about that 60% and examine whether or not you are practicing a plan that will make perfect and not pathetic!

Gold can hide the truth

I had a chance to hear Lee Froschheiser speak this week at an event. I also had an opportunity to watch "Elizabeth, the golden years" now out on DVD. Interestingly but not surprisingly I made an interesting connection between the two - here goes.
Lee spoke about about the misconceptions that "good times" in business can perpetrate. Revenue hides a multitude of sins, but when the revenue stops, the economy changes or some other event acts as a catalyst all of a sudden the ugly and neglected sides of the business appear! Sometimes these problems are now so entrenched they are beyond repair.
In the mid 16th century Spain was the thriving business. Almost unlimited quantities of gold were flowing into the coffers. But coincidentally Spain was dysfunctional: A poor leader in King Phillip, a divided country, the inquisition, poor corporate citizenry as they pillaged and raped the new world and no vision as to where the country was headed.
In contrast England, now under Elizabeth was "up and coming". She was a great leader, the country had been united under her more tolerant approach to freedom of religion, there was an interest in the new world and certainly gold; but that was not their only interest.
After the war climaxed with the English defeating the Spanish Armada - Spain was a bankrupt country and England moved on to become the number one player on the ocean.
Business leaders can learn much from these examples. Any Idiot knows to take a good look at their organization or a department when things are not going well, only the best leaders take time to do that when things seem to be perfect!

Humble Pie

I had a chance to meet with an executive last week and we discussed some ways that we could help him get better results out of his sales people. After the meeting I was reflecting on why the meeting had went so well, why we had made such progress in such a short time, why we had got along so well and the answer to all of these questions has to do with this executive having the oh so rare quality of Humility!
This gentleman was very savy, very smart and obvioulsy had some excellent leadership skills. His business had grown very progressively over the years and yet rather than getting overly confident or even pompus about his success, he still had an "I don't have all the answers" demeanor. Oddly enough those who follow this mantra usually find themselves having all the answers.
One cannot help thinking about how different things might be if more people were like him. The political realm right now is full of people who say they have all the answers and the current President - of course he has all the answers. When people have all the answers they never ask for help, they never consider another opinion and as a result they make more mistakes and end up looking foolish more often.
As bad as current leaders might be I can certainly think of worse.Legend has it that King Canute of England had his throne taken down to the ocean so that he could demonstrate to his subjects that even the sea obeys him - then his subjects would stop questioning him. Guess what happened?

Expecting the Unexpected

Last week on my vacation to St Kitts I had a chance to visit the Brimstone Hill Fortress on the Island. Originally constructed by the British it was intended to protect the island and waterways around it during a very, shall we say competetive time in history. The fortress was believed to be impregnible and then one day in 1782 the fortress fell to of all people - the French!
How did that happen?
This fortress high on a hill, unapproachable from 3 sides, guarded by the best army in the world fell to a nation notorious for the white flag. Well think about it: Overconfidence and Complacency when pitted against Unexpected Creativity won out.
Often in the world of business we see the same thing. An Unexpected and underestimated competitor starts taking market share from you because he is coming from a different direction and exploiting your weaknesses. Sometimes the competitor is inferior but his timing is right and he is able to catch you off your game. Even a competitor that will usually fail in a true head to head confrontation can capture ground by utilizing surprise.
After this the British redesigned the fort and added guns and walls to the weak side and the fort never fell again. Great Business's will similarly make whatever changes are necessary to not only keep up with their challengers but surpass them!

who is really in charge?

A business owner this week told me that he was trying to get his wife to accept his decision. A CEO told me that he wanted to get buy-in from his team. Now I am certainly not opposed to business owners speaking with their wives nor CEO's talking to their teams provided of course that they remain in charge and do not end up abdicating the decision making process. While these members of a business are certainly "key players" their perspective is not always as clear nor as wide as the primary visionary of a company. That said, exercise caution.
In Russia their was a man, you probably heard of called Rasputin. He gained favor with the Czar and his Queen by curing their ailing son. We could say that in this role, Rasputin although weird, was doing no real harm. However it was not long before he was being consulted on almost every decision the Czar was making: unfortunately for the royal family Rasputin might have been a healer but his political prowess was sorely lacking and to cut along story short the entire family found themselves all up against a wall after the revolution.
So does your business have a clear leader. Do you know who it is and does everyone in your organization know who it is. Often we see large companies that cannot get out of their own way to get something done.
And if you are trying to sell into these companies beware of the Rasputin's that can sabotage even the greatest of ideas by removing any real decision making power from the Czar.

To Have a Dream

Today there are a lot of blurbs and quotes in the news from Martin Luther King. Here was a man that exuded qualities like courage, oratory , vision and the know more popular than ever - Change. (see both presidential nomination races)
I had a chance to hear Rob Kriegel (www.kriegel.com) speak today and the focus of his discussion involved the inherent resistance to change. In the case of Dr. King that resistance to an idea was so strong that it led to his death. It is fascinating this idea of resistance to change and as a salesperson understanding that is extremely helpful. The people you speak with are probably going to resist your sale because it involves change. You are going to resist adapting to their objections or developing your sales skills because of your own resistance to change.
The solution to this problem involves many things but the one that I took away was to challenge what you do now, if you normally hang up on salespeople try listening, if you normally call the CFO try the CEO for a change, if you normally start by saying ....change to...... (I think we get the point)
A old Chinese proverb says that "Change does not always involve progress, but progress always involves a change".

so few, so much, so many

Winston Churchill described the valiant efforts of the RAF thus in the summer of 1941. After all they had successfully fought of an onslaught from the German Luftwaffe that would have by all accounts spelled out their doom. Why were they winners?
Well the experts have debated the superiority of the ME109 compared to the Spitfire and the Hurricane but in reality the Germans were also ahead in experience and numbers as well. So we arrive at the statements of Mr. Churchill who placed credit for the victory firmly on the shoulders of the few - the pilots who defended the free world. Coincidentally these pilots had a very unique profile:-drinkers, crazy, daredevils. loud, boisterous and foolhardy and yet nobody resented this specialized skill set because their efforts meant victory!
Similarly the profile for the most productive and effective salesperson may not align with others in your organization but will you resent them. It is rumoured that RAF pilots never paid for a beer because the people of Britain recognized and respected their role.Does your company understand and respect the unique role your sales people play?Do you have a way of identifying those pilot like sales people during your recruiting process?